But how many (countless) generations before them have We destroyed? Can you find a single one of them (now) or hear (so much as) a whisper of them? (Surat, Maryam 98)

Man exists on earth because he is being tested. Throughout history, the immaculate messages and the revelations of Allah communicated to people through His messengers provided guidance for mankind. These messengers and books always summoned man to the righteous path, the path of Allah. Today, the last book of Allah, His only unaltered revelation to mankind is available: the Qur’an.
In the Qur’an, Allah informs that He showed the righteous path to all people throughout the world history and warned them against the Day of Judgment and Hell through His messengers. However, a majority of these people renounced the prophets sent to them and moreover displayed animosity towards them. Because of their impetuosity, they brought down Allah’s wrath and were suddenly wiped off the face of the earth. The related verse follows:

As also 'Ad and Thamud, and the Companions of the Rass, and many a generation between them. To each one We set forth Parables and examples; and each one We broke to utter annihilation (for their sins). And the (Unbelievers) must indeed have passed by the town on which was rained a shower of evil: did they not then see it (with their own eyes)? But they fear not the Resurrection. (Surah Furqan, 38-40)

The news of previous peoples, which constitutes a great part of the Qur’an, is certainly one of the issues of the revelation to be contemplated. The lessons that are to be drawn from their experience is stated as follows in the Qur’an:

See they not how many of those before them We did destroy? Generations We had established on the earth, in strength such as We have not given to you, for whom We poured out rain from the skies in abundance, and gave (fertile) streams flowing beneath their (feet): yet for their sins We destroyed them, and raised in their wake fresh generations (to succeed them). (Surat Al-Anaam, 6)

Another verse addressed to men of understanding who can take warning and take heed is the following:

But how many generations before them did We destroy (for their sins), stronger in power than they? Then did they wander through the land: was there any place of escape (for them)?Verily in this is a Message for any that has a heart and understanding or who gives ear and earnestly witnesses (the truth). (Surah Qaf, 36-37)

The Qur’an informs us that these cases of destruction should be a warning for succeeding generations. Nearly all the incidences of destructive events related in the Qur’an have become “observable” and “identifiable” thanks to current archive studies and archaeological finds. Yet it would be a sheer mistake to develop a historical or scientific approach while examining traces of these destruction cases in the Qur’an. As stated in the following verse, each of these incidents is warning to draw lessons from:

So We made it an example to their own time and to their posterity, and a lesson to those who fear Allah. (Surat Al-Baqara, 66)

Yet we should consider one significant fact: those communities who resisted obeying the commandments of Allah did not suffer from Allah’s wrath suddenly. Allah, sent them messengers to warn them with the hope that they would regret their behavior and submit to Allah:

And verily We make them taste the lower punishment before the greater, that happily they may return. (Surat As-Sajda, 21)

Destruction often followed when these warnings evoked no response in the communities. All these communities were punished by the wrath of Allah. They perished from history and were replaced with new generations. These communities actually took benefit from the favors of Allah, led their lives in prosperity, indulged in the enjoyment of all sorts of pleasures and while doing all these things, they never occupied themselves with the remembrance of Allah. They never reflected on the fact that everything in this world is doomed to extinction. They savored the moment and never thought about death and beyond. To them, anything and everything to do with the worldly life seemed eternal. Yet the real eternal life actually laid beyond death. They had no gain whatsoever from this perception of life, however: history provides sufficient evidence of their bitter destruction. Despite the passage of thousands of years, their memories remain as a warning, reminding current generations of the ends of those who go astray against their Creator.

The Thamud are one of those communities that perished due to insolence towards divine revelations and to overlooking the warnings of Allah. As stated in the Qur’an, the Thamud were known with their prosperity and power and they were a nation who excelled in art.

“And remember how He made you inheritors after the 'Ad people and gave you habitations in the land: you built for yourselves palaces and castles in (open) plains, and carve out homes in the mountains; so bring to remembrance the benefits (you have received) from Allah, and refrain from evil and mischief on the earth.” (Surat Al-Araf, 74)

In another verse, the social environment of the Thamud is illustrated as follows:

Will you be left secure, in (the enjoyment of) all that you have here? Gardens and springs, and corn-fields and date-palms with spathes near breaking (with the weight of fruit)? And you carve houses out of (rocky) mountains with great skill. (Surat Ash-Shuara (The Poets), 146-149)

Exulting in affluence, the Thamud led an extravagant life. In the Qur’an, it is stated that Prophet Salih was sent to the Thamud to warn them. The Prophet Salih was a recognized person among the Thamud. His people, who did not expect him to proclaim the religion of truth, were surprised by his calling to them to abandon the perverseness they were in. A small part of the community complied with Salih’s summons, but most did not accept what he said. In particular, the leaders of the community denied the Prophet Salih and assumed an antagonistic stand against him. They tried to injure those who believed in the Prophet Salih and tried to oppress him. They felt rage against the Prophet Salih because he called them to worship Allah. This rage was not only specific to the Thamud: they were repeating the mistake made by the people of Noah and the people of Ad who appeared in the history before them. This is why the Qur’an refers to these three peoples as follows;

Has not the story reached you, (O people!), of those who (went) before you? Of the people of Noah, and 'Ad, and Thamud? And of those who (came) after them? None knows them but Allah. To them came messengers with clear (signs); but they put their hands up to their mouths, and said: “We do deny (the mission) on which you have been sent, and we are really in suspicious (disquieting) doubt as to that to which you invite us.” (Surah Ibrahim, 9)

The Thamud were determined to remain arrogant and never changed their attitude towards the Prophet Salih. Salih warned them further saying:

“Will you be left secure, in (the enjoyment of) all that you have here? (Surat Ash-Shuara, 146-149)

The response of the Thamud still carried the tone of pride and exultation:

“Then they ham-strung the she-camel, and insolently defied the order of their Lord, saying: “O Salih! bring about your threats, if you are a messenger (of Allah)!” (Surat Al-Araf, 77).

After this event, seeing that he had proclaimed the message to his people in many different ways and still nobody accepted any advice, the Prophet Salih declared to his people that they would be destroyed in three days;

But they did ham-string her. So he said: “Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days: (Then will be your ruin): (Behold) there a promise not to be belied!” (Surah Hud, 65)

Surely enough, three days later, the Prophet Salih’s warning came true and the Thamud perished.

The (mighty) blast overtook the wrong-doers, and they lay prostrate in their homes before the morning, as if they had never dwelt or flourished there. Ah! Behold! For the Thamud rejected their Lord and Cherisher! Ah! Behold! removed (from sight) were the Thamud! (Surah Hud, 67-68)

The Thamud paid dearly for not obeying their messenger by being destroyed. The buildings they had put up and the works of art they had produced could not protect them from the penalty. The Thamud were destroyed with a grievous penalty just like all the other peoples both before and after them who have denied faith. In brief, their ends matched their attitude. Those who revolted were utterly ruined, and those who obeyed received eternal deliverance.
Boasting a past of two thousand years, the Thamud had established a kingdom with another Arabian people, Nabataeans. Today, in the Rum Valley or otherwise called Petra Valley, in Jordan, it is possible to see the best illustrations of stone carvings of these people. Also in the Qur’an, the Thamud are mentioned for their mastery in stone carving.

“And remember how He made you inheritors after the 'Ad people and gave you habitations in the land: you build for yourselves palaces and castles in (open) plains, and care out homes in the mountains; so bring to remembrance the benefits (you have received) from Allah, and refrain from evil and mischief on the earth.” (Surat Al-Araf, 74)

The story of the people of Sheba is recounted in the Qur’an as follows:

There was, for Sheba, aforetime, a Sign in their home-land–two Gardens to the right and to the left. “Eat of the Sustenance (provided) by your Lord, and be grateful to Him: a territory fair and happy, and a Lord Oft-Forgiving! But they turned away (from Allah), and We sent against them the Flood (released) from the dams, and We converted their two garden (rows) into “gardens” producing bitter fruit, and tamarisks, and some few (stunted) Lote-trees.That was the Requital We gave them because they ungratefully rejected Faith: and never do We give (such) requital except to such as are ungrateful rejecters.(Surah Saba, 15-17)

As related in the verses above, the Sheban people lived in a region noted for its arrestingly beautiful and fruitful vineyards and gardens. In such a country, where life standards and circumstances were so high, what the Shebans should have done was to be grateful to Allah. Yet as stated in the verse, they “turned away from Allah”. Because they laid their own claim to all the prosperity they had, they lost it all. As informed by the verse, the Arim flood laid the whole country waste.

Sumer was a collection of city-states around the lower Tigris and Euphrates in what is now southern Iraq. In our day, the terrain that someone who travels to southern Iraq would most frequently come across is nothing but vast desert. Most of the land, with the exception of cities and regions that have since been afforested, is covered with sand. These deserts, once the homeland of Sumerians, have been there for thousands of years.
Their glorious country, which today we are likely to encounter only in textbooks, is as real as any contemporary civilization. These people were as alive as we are today and they created architectural masterpieces. In a sense, the magnificent cities built by the Sumerians are part of the cultural heritage of our own time.

[IMG] http://www.islamic-paths.org/Home/En...altnliskel.jpg [/IMG] Among what survives of the cultural remains of the Sumerians, we have information about an elaborate funeral held for Puabi, one of their queens. Vivid accounts of this splendid ceremony are to be found in a number of sources and they tell us that the dead body of the queen was embellished in an extraordinary way. Her corpse, dressed in cloth fashioned from beads of silver and gold and precious stones also had tassels of pearls. On its head was a wig decorated with a crown encrusted with golden leaves. A vast amount of gold was also placed in the tomb.

In brief, Queen Puabi, an important name in Sumerian history, was buried with a splendid treasure. According to accounts, these matchless riches were carried to her tomb by a procession of guards and servants.
Queen Puabi may have been buried together with treasures beyond counting, but that did not save her body from being reduced to a skeleton. Like all other people in this world, for whom she may have felt contempt because they were poor, her body decayed under the ground becoming a putrefying mass of bacteria. This is surely an impressive example indicating that the wealth and properties of this world by no means ensure salvation from a disastrous end.

The Minoans

Land and sea may lie relatively still for centuries. Then, an upheaval suddenly unleashes a cataclysm. Perhaps no event illustrates such a horror so clearly as the calamity of ancient Thera. What happened there may have been the most explosive volcanic eruption in history.
Towering over the Aegean Sea some 3,500 years ago, a mile-high volcano formed a ten-mile-wide island. Thera loomed over a magnificent civilization centered some 70 miles south on the island of Crete. At its peak, perhaps 30,000 people dwelled in Akrotiri, Thera’s main city, in which were erected fresco-decorated palaces and from which were dispatched ships laden with trade goods.
While scholars remain uncertain of the exact date–estimates range from 1470 to 1628 BC–they know the sequence of events. Light earth tremors were followed by a violent quake, aftershocks, and an explosion whose reverberations were audible as far as Scandinavia, the Persian Gulf, and the Rock of Gibraltar.12 Huge tidal waves arched up and smashed Amnisos, the harbor of Knossos. Today, only the remains of those glorious palaces are left.
The Minoan civilization, one of the most important civilizations of the period, most probably never expected such a drastic end. Those people who boasted of their wealth and properties lost everything they had. The Qur’an highlights that such drastic ends of ancient civilizations should set an example for contemporary societies:

Does it not teach them a lesson, how many generations We destroyed before them, in whose dwellings they (now) go to and fro? Verily in that are Signs: Do they not then listen? (Surat As-Sajda, 26)

The Disaster of Pompeii

For historians and tourists alike, the remains of Pompeii are striking testimony to the debauchery that once prevailed there. Even the streets of Pompeii, the symbol of the degeneration of the Roman Empire, evoked the enjoyment and pleasure that was indulged in by this city: the once busy streets lined with taverns, nightclubs, and brothels, still provide glimpses of daily life observable that the disaster left behind.
Here, on soil enriched with the volcanic ash, were prosperous farms, lush vineyards and luxurious summer houses. Situated between the slopes of Vesuvius and the sea, Pompeii was the favorite summer resort of wealthy Romans who had escaped the sweltering capital. Yet Pompeii witnessed one of the most fearsome volcanic eruptions in history, obliterating the town from the face of the earth. Today, details pertaining to the Roman way of life are vividly pictured in the remains of the inhabitants of this city, asphyxiated by the poisonous vapors of Vesuvius as they were going about their daily lives as usual.
The disaster struck Pompeii, together with the neighboring city Herculaneum, on a summer day, just at a time when the region was crowded with wealthy Romans spending the season in their glorious villas. The date was 24 August 79. Investigations at the site reveal that the eruption progressed in discrete stages. Before the eruption, the region was shaken several times. These quakes were accompanied by distant, high-pitched rumblings, deep and terrible, coming from the volcano. At first Vesuvius ejected a column of steam and ash. “Then this roiling cloud rose high into the atmosphere carrying pieces of old rock torn from the volcano’s conduit and millions of tons of fresh, glassy pumice. Prevailing winds carried the ash cloud toward Pompeii, where “small stones” began to fall. As the sun-extinguishing canopy extended over the city, pumice and ash rained down on Pompeii, accumulating at the rate of six inches an hour.”13
Herculaneum was closer to Vesuvius; most of its residents fled the city terrified by the fast-moving pyroclastic surge that roared towards them. Those who did not leave the city immediately lived to regret their delay. The pyroclastic surge reaching Herculaneum killed these tarriers while a slower-moving pyroclastic flow engulfed the town, initiating its burial. Excavations at Pompeii on the other hand reveal that a majority of its inhabitants were reluctant to leave the city. They thought they were not in danger because Pompeii was not very close to the crater. Most wealthy Pompeiians for this reason did not abandon their homes and instead took refuge in their houses and shops, hoping the tempest would soon blow over. They all perished before they had time to realize that it was too late. In just one day Pompeii and Herculaneum along with six nearby villages were wiped off the map. The Qur’an declares this reality as a reminder to all:

These are some of the stories of communities which We relate unto you: of them some are standing, and some have been mown down (by the sickle of time). (Surah, Hud 100)

Unraveling the secrets of Pompeii was not possible until centuries later. Rather than mere clues however, the excavations of the ancient city yielded up vivid representations of its people’s daily lives. The shapes of many agonized victims were preserved intact:

Such is the chastisement of your Lord when He chastises communities in the midst of their wrong: grievous, indeed, and severe is His chastisement. (Surah Hud, 102)

Today, the vast ruins are humbling evidence of complex civilizations that once flourished hundreds, even thousand of years ago. The builders of all the great metropolises that dot different ages of the history belong to people who are now nameless. Their wealth, technology or works of art did not save them from a bitter end. As a matter of fact it was not them but rather succeeding generations who took advantage of their rich heritage. With few clues to guide us, the origin and fate of these ancient civilizations are a mystery to this day. Yet one thing is evident: they assumed they would never die and indulged in worldly pleasures. They left behind great monuments believing that they would thereby achieve immortality. No less than these ancient civilizations, groups of people today also have such a mindset. In expectation of immortalizing their name, a majority of the members of modern societies devote themselves entirely to accumulating more wealth or to creating works to leave behind. Moreover, it is more than likely that they revel in more extravagance than did earlier generations and still remain heedless of Allah’s revelations. There are many lessons to be drawn from the social attitudes and experiences of ancient communities. None of those early communities survived. The works of art and monuments they left behind may have helped them be remembered by succeeding generations but they did not avail to save them from divine punishment or prevent their corpses from decaying. Their remains stand there only as a reminder and warning against Allah’s wrath for those who are rebellious and ungrateful for the riches endowed by Him.
Undoubtedly the lessons to be drawn from such historical experience should lead eventually to wisdom. Only then one can comprehend that what befell early societies was not purposeless. One may further realize that only All-mighty Allah has the power to create any disaster at any moment. The world is a place where man is being tested. Those who submit to Allah will attain salvation. Those who are satisfied with this world, on the other hand, will be deprived of eternity. No doubt, their ends will match their deeds. They will be judged in accordance with their deeds. Surely, Allah is the Best of Judges.

The well-known difference between a Prophet and a Messenger is that a Messenger is one to whom a law is revealed and he is commanded to convey it, whilst a Prophet is one to whom a law is revealed but he is not commanded to convey it. But this distinction is not free of problems, because a Prophet is also commanded to call people, convey the Message and judge among the people. Hence Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: The correct view is that the Messenger is one who is sent to a disbelieving people, and the Prophet is one who is sent to a believing people with the sharee’ah of the Messenger who came before him, to teach them and judge between them, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, We did send down the Tawraat (Torah) [to Moosa (Moses)], therein was guidance and light, by which the Prophets, who submitted themselves to Allaah’s Will, judged for the Jews”
[al-Maa’idah 5:44]

So the Prophets of the Children of Israel judged by the Tawraat which Allaah had revealed to Moosa.

With regard to the aayah,

“but he is the Messenger of Allaah and the last (end) of the Prophets” [al-Ahzaab 33:40]

and why it did not say the last of the Messengers – the end of the Message does not mean the end of Prophethood, but the end of Prophethood does mean the end of the Message. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“There will be no Prophet after me,” and he did not say, there will be no Messenger after me.

Thus we know that there is no Messenger and no Prophet after him (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him); he was the last of the Prophets and of the Messengers, (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).